Nic’s Myles Scores 19 In Warm-Up Chicago Recruit Looks Promising As Cardinals Run Past Treasure Valley
The story goes that a visiting assistant basketball coach saw Leonard Myles on North Idaho College’s bench in street clothes before a December game.
The stunned coach, familiar with Chicago prep hoops, walked down, dropped a business card in Myles’ hands and said, “If it doesn’t work out here …”
Sorry, coach. Myles, who became eligible in early January, seems to be working out fine.
He accumulated 19 points, nine assists and three steals in roughly 18 minutes of playing time as NIC throttled Treasure Valley 123-75 on Saturday night at Christianson Gym.
Just wait ‘til Myles gets into shape. He didn’t play his senior year of high school in Chicago after a dominant junior year. He’s basically been away from organized basketball for about 18 months.
“My skills are tight and the more I play, the better I get,” said Myles, cousin of NIC point guard Todd Myles, who served a one-game suspension for a flagrant technical foul late in Thursday’s sloppy win over College of Southern Idaho.
“Coach puts me in for spurts, a couple minutes at a time. It’s all in the coaching. Our coaches do a great job, scouting, having us ready.”
Myles is 6-foot-4, handles the ball flawlessly, has spring-loaded legs and an acute awareness of open teammates.
And, NIC coach Hugh Watson said, “He’s got an unbelievable first step.”
Myles barely stood out on a night when NIC shot 62 percent, 61 percent on 3-pointers, and racked up 36 assists and 27 steals.
Andre McKanstry (19), Toby Stack (17), Shawn Myrick (15), Travis Houston (13) and Bo Johnson (10) all reached double figures. The only blight on the evening was Steven Ryan’s ankle injury.
“We shot the lights out,” Watson said.
Watson was thankful for the easy win, which moved NIC to 5-1 in the Scenic West, 13-1 overall. He’s saddled with a sore throat - aggravated no doubt in Thursday’s ugly win over CSI and his vocal cords couldn’t take much more abuse.
Treasure (9-8, 1-4) was trailing 9-8 when NIC erupted. Feeding off the Chukars’ 22 first-half turnovers, NIC piled up layups, dunks and open jumpers into a 45-14 lead. It was 62-28 at half and the Cards reached 100 with 7:05 left.
“Their press and pressure just demoralizes you,” said Treasure coach Drake Wallick.
Wallick has seen most of the SWAC teams and says NIC has a style all its own because of its attacking defense.
“Hugh’s done an excellent job to put together a team like that,” Wallick said. “If they get to host this (regional tournament), they’re going to be awfully hard to beat.”
Treasure center Bjorn Magnussen, a former Idaho Vandal, had 10 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.
North Idaho 123, Treasure Valley 75
Treasure Valley - Thackeray 0-0 0-0 0, Ramos 3-4 3-4 11, Bybee 3-3 0-0 6, Judkins 0-1 2-2 2, Fujimoto 0-1 0-0 0, Rowbury 1-1 0-0 3, Killion 4-14 2-2 11, Dalhe 1-2 0-2 3, Baird 3-8 2-2 8, Presser 1-3 3-4 6, Magnussen 4-8 2-12 10, Barnes 4-6 1-3 9, Watson 2-4 2-2 6. Totals 26-55 17-33 75.
North Idaho - Myrick 5-7 1-2 15, Johnson 4-6 2-2 10, Webster 3-4 3-6 9, Rahming 0-1 0-0 0, Houston 4-6 5-5 13, McKanstry 6-8 7-8 19, Stack 6-9 0-0 17, Harrison 3-8 0-0 9, Banks 2-4 1-2 5, Bussell 2-3 0-0 4, Ryan 1-4 1-2 3, L. Myles 7-9 3-3 19. Totals 43-69 23-30 123.
Halftime - NIC 62, Treasure 28. 3-point goals - Treasure 6-20 (Ramos 2-2, Dalhe 1-2, Presser 1-2, Rowbury 1-1, Judkins 0-1, Fujimoto 0-1, Baird 0-3, Killion 1-8), NIC 14-23 (Myrick 4-6, Stack 5-6, L. Myles 2-3, Harrison 3-6, Webster 0-1, McKanstry 0-1). Total fouls - Treasure 22, NIC 25. Technical fouls - none. Fouled out - none. Rebounds - Treasure 33 (Magnussen 10), NIC 27 (Harrison 5). Assists - Treasure 20 (Judkins 5), NIC 36 (Myles 9). Att- 1,127.
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